Channel crossing after 20 years away from swimming

A swimmer who spent 20 years away from the water has made it across the English Channel.

Alex David who lives in Devizes, Wiltshire, was a keen swimmer when he was younger but life "got in the way".

The father-of-two's challenge has raised £9,500 for charities Julia's House Children's Hospice and Devizes Opportunities Centre - almost double his target.

The 41-year-old, who made an unsuccessful attempt last year, said: "It is hard to explain the nerves, just off the scale really. It's just an incredible experience."

He did it in 15 hours and four minutes after setting off from Dover's Shakespeare Beach and landing in dunes at Wissant, in France's Hauts-de-France region.

This is not the regular route but he was swept off course.

"You don't want to underestimate the challenge because you have got to know that you're in for an ordeal.

"But by the same token you have got to stand on the beach believing that you're going to make it to French shores," he said.

The hardest part of the 25 June challenge was the first couple of hours, Mr David said.

"It was super-tough conditions, I was getting slapped around by the chop," he said.

"And I recall breathing to the left and I hadn't even cleared Dover (harbour) wall.

"And I'm thinking, 'Wow, this is tough' so I was just, in my mind, hanging on in there waiting for the weather to change.

"They always say do not look up because it is further away than you think so I decided to look up and thought yes, I can see France, put my head head down, swam for another couple of hours and I literally could not see any land at all."

He said: "To actually do it was pretty special. It's something I have done and it will be there in the records forever."

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